Chinese Chop Suey

Each time I watch an American film / tv show and I see the characters eat chinese takeaways, my mouth waters. I want THAT! So one day last week - The Big Bang Theory made me make this delicious chinese meal! And towards the end of cooking I was just too tired to top it with deep fried crispy noodles, so I served it topped with spring onion and toasted peanuts. Thus it became 'Healthy'!

Noodles - 200gms, boiled 

                + 50gms boiled and then deep fried (opt)

Carrot - 1 large or  2 small - Julienned (meaning cut into thin strips)

Beans - 4, cut diagonally into thin slices

Cabbage - julienned and then measure 1/2 cup

Green capsicum - 1/2 medium , julienned

Red capsicum - 1/2 medium, julienned

Yellow capsicum - 1/2 medium , julienned

Mushroom - 4, cut into thin slices (opt)

Onion - 1 medium, sliced thin

Garlic - 6 pods, chopped

Chilli flakes - 1 tsp

Oil - 3 tbsp

Sugar - 1tsp

Sauces

The below mentioned quantities are to be adjusted as per your taste. For example if you like your sauce spicy, add the whole 4 tbsp otherwise start with 2 and then icrease if you feel necessary.

Chilli sauce - 2 to 4 tbsp

Tomato sauce - 4 to 6 tbsp

Vinegar - 1/2 cup

Soya sauce - 4 tbsp

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Mix all the above with 1/2 cup water and taste. Boil and simmer on low flame for 3-5 minutes.

Garnish 

Peanuts toasted

Spring onion 

Deep fried noodles

Note : This recipe has to be made on a high heat. Do not reduce the flame. Therefore keep all the ingredients ready before you start. 

Heat oil and add the garlic. When it starts turning colour, add the chilli flakes.

After about 15 seconds, add the mushrooms and onions.

After a minute, add the carrots and beans.Toss well.

Next goes in the rest of the vegetables - cabbage and capsicums.

When they start wilting, make a well in the middle and add the 1tsp sugar. When this starts caramelising mix well.

Add the boiled sauces and mix well. Boil for a minute.

Arrange the noodles on the serving plate and top with the vegetables and sauce.

Garnish with the peanuts, spring onionsand deep fried noodles. Serve piping hot.

Ghugni

Thankyou Shefali for sharing this recipe with me. This is a bengali street food which like any other chaat is incredibly tasty. And the best part is with a bit of preparation , it is quite easy to make. But now since precooked chick peas and sweet chutney is availale over the counter, this gets ready in a jiffy!

Chick peas / dried peas - 1 cup- soaked for 6 hrs and pressure cooked until soft with a little salt
Potatoes - 2 - boiled and cubed
Onion - 1 big - chopped
Tomato - 1 big -  chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece grated
Green chilli - 2 - chopped
Sweet chutney - 3 tbsp
Jeera powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 2tbsp

Coconut - for garnish

Sev - for garnish
Coriander leaves - for garnish


*Spices to be heated and ground spices -
Clove -2
Cinnamon stick - 2cm
Cumin seed - 1tsp
Coriander seed - 1 tsp

* Freshly ground spice is the best but if you are strapped for time use 1 tbsp garam masala instead.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and add the ground spice / garam masala and potatoes with 1 tsp salt. Mix well until the raw smell of spices goes. Add this to the boiled chick peas.
Heat the other tbsp of oil and fry the onion, green chilli and ginger on a low flame till translucent. Add the jeera powder, chilli powder and mix well.
Add the sweet chutney and fry for 1/2 a minute.
Now tip in the boiled peas mix and add upto 2 cups of water.
Add the tomatoes and boil for 5 minutes.
Serve hot garnished with sev, coconut and coriander leaves.

Wheat upuma and tomato curry

Tomorrow is Guruvayur Ekadasi. Food is not a priority and mainly fruits and milk are only consumed. But Wheat based-no onion-no garlic diet is also accepted. So instead of making chapaty individually, you can always cook broken wheat and make a tomato based curry. I also serve cabbage thoran with this. This saves time and tastes good.

The following recipe is what serves me and my family. As I am the only person sitting vrat, I also cook 1 big cup of white rice for my husband and 2 kids.

For 1 person:
Broken wheat - 1 small cup
Water - 3 cups
Oil (preferably coconut) - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Red chilli - 2, broken
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt
Curry leaf - 6 leaves
Splutter the mustard and fry the red chilli and curry leaves in the coconut oil.
Add the water and when it starts boiling add the salt, wheat and coconut.
Stir well.
Cook covered on a low flame till all the water gets absorbed.
Stir after turning off flame at least 2 times in 5 minutes.

Tomato curry for 4:
Tomato - 8 medium , each diced into 8
oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1tsp
Red chilli - 1 , broken
Green chilli -1 , slit
Curry leaf - 1 sprig
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Sambar powder - 1 tsp or Chilli powder - 1 tsp
(opt) Coriander leaf - 1tbsp

Heat oil. Splutter mustard. Fry the red chilli. Add the curry leaf and green chilli.
Tip in all the tomato and reduce flame.
Now add all the powders.
Mix well and cook covered for 10 minutes.
Once the tomato starts getting soft, add 1 cup water and boil.
Garnish with coriander leaf.

Cabbage thoran for 4:
Cabbage chopped / grated - 2 cups
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
(opt) Curry leaf - 5 leaves, torn
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 1

Grind together the coconut and green chilli without water and keep aside.
Heat oil and splutter the mustard.
Fry the dal until it turns red and add the curry leaf, if using.
Add the cabbage, salt and turmeric powder.
Mix well, reduce flame and cook covered for 5 minutes. No need to add any water.
Open vessel and turn the cabbage again. cook till all water gets evaporated.
Add the ground coconut and mix well with the cabbage.
Turn off flame and keep covered for a further 5 minutes.

Uppittu or Sweet chappathy

Diwali is here and what a great time to make sweets. How about a sweet paratha? This traditional recipe was given to me by my aunt Mrs. Swarnam Ramaswamy. "Uppittu" and 'boli are almost the same but the former is much easier to make than 'boli'. (At least for me as I do not like to roll dough using a rolling pin as it's hard for me to get a round shape!)

Recipe for making 10 uppittu:

Kadala parippu / Channa dal- 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1 1/2 cup
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Cardamom / elaichi - 2 pods
Maida - 1 cup
Til oil / nallenai - 2 to 3 tbsp
Ghee - 1/2 cup
salt - 1 pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Banana leaf / butter paper - small square - 1

Soak the dal in water for 10 minutes and pressure cook with 1 cup water until very soft ( 2 whistles + low flame 1 whistle).
Knead the maida, salt and turmeric powder with a little water into a slightly loose dough (dough which can be spread with a roller - chappathy dough). Now add the til oil 1 spoon at a time and continue kneading. The oil should start seeping out of the dough. Make a ball and keep covered.

Heat the jaggery with 1 cup of water in a heavy bottomed vessel. Once it melts, sieve to remove all impurities.
Clean vessel and start reheating jaggery liquid in the same vessel.
Pound the coconut and cardamom together without any water.
Add this to the jaggery.
Remove all the excess water from the dal and grind / mash into a fine paste.
Add this also to the jaggery.
Continue cooking till the whole mixture forms a ball. Now add 1 tbsp of ghee and mix well. Turn off flame. Do not change the vessel.

Take the banana leaf and heat it over an open flame till it changes colour (about 2 secs at a particular spot). Colour turns into dark green.
If banana leaf is not available use a butter paper or the underside of a flat steel plate.
Grease the banana leaf / butter paper / steel plate with 1 tsp ghee.
Now take a small ball of the dough and use your finger tips to stretch it.
Now place a small ball of jaggery mixture in the middle.

Cover this with the dough and make a ball.
Spread ball and make a thin patty.

Heat a girdle and spread some ghee on it.
Invert the leaf with the patty over the girdle and remove the leaf.

Reduce the flame. Cook till golden spots appear.
Spread a little ghee on the top and flip.
This side should also get the golden spots.
Continue with rest of the dough/ jaggery mixture.

Sweet corn paneer curry

My aunt is the one person who we nieces wish to emulate. Her housekeeping skills, her cooking are both unbeatable. This curry is her recipe.
FYI - I wanted more curry and was short of sweet corn. That is why I added the paneer into the curry. The curry tastes amazing with just the sweet corn.

Sweet corn - 1 cup
(opt) Paneer - 10 or 12 cubes
Onion -2 medium, chopped fine
Tomato - 3 medium , pureed
Green chilli - 2, chopped fine
Garlic - 3 pods, chopped fine
Curry leaf - 5
salt
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Coriander leaf - 1 tbsp
(opt) Cornflour - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

I used frozen corn and paneer, which I first defrosted (by putting in water for half hour).

Heat oil and splutter the jeera and mustard.
Add the onion, garlic and green chilli and saute on a low flame till translucent.
Add the tomato puree, salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder.
Boil and simmer for 5 minutes on a low flame, mixing often.
Now add the sweet corn and cook covered for a further 5 minutes.
If you are serving curry immediately, then mix the cornflour in 1/2 cup water and add to the curry and boil for 2 minutes.
Otherwise do this just before serving.
The curry tastes good without the cornflour too.
Serve hot garnished with coriander leaf.

Thayir / Curd Vada

Left over Uzhundu vada? Not to worry, make it into refreshing Curd vada.

Oil for frying
Curd - 1 cup
Salt
Green Chilli - 3
Ginger - 1 inch

Garnish for 2 vadas:
Carrot  grated - 1 tbsp
(opt)Sev / boondhi -1 tsp
Coriander leaf - 1 tbsp
Curry leaf - 3 pinched
Thick curd - 1/2 cup , broken and made a bit loose
(opt) Sweet chutney - 2 tsp

Boil water in a wide-mouth vessel and keep on a low simmer.

Mash the salt, green chilies and ginger into a fine paste and mix with the curd. Add 2 cups of water and taste. It must be a bit spicy and salty.

Refry the vada in hot oil and dunk it into the simmering water.
Leave it in there for a minute.
Remove the vada from the water and squeeze it to remove the excess water. It must not break.
Now add it to the prepared curd mixture.
Store in fridge in individual deep bowls with a little liquid. Do turn them often so that the top does not dry and add more curd if necessary.
Just before serving garnish. Serve cold.

modakam or sweet kozhakkatai

Lord Ganesha's favorite is Modakam otherwise called Kozhakattai. This is a steamed rice wonton with a sweet coconut filling!

Rice / pachari - 1 cup

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1 pinch

Coconut - 1 1/2 cup

Jaggery (broken ) - 1 cup

Cardamom (powdered) - 1 tsp

Soak the rice in water for 1 hour and grind into a smooth batter. 

Mix in the salt and coconut oil. The batter must be very runny. So add more water if necessary.

Pour this liquid into a thick bottomed vessel and start heating.

Keep stirring until the rice forms a thick ball and sticks to the spatula. 

Transfer to a oiled plate and keep aside to cool.

Clean the same vessel and add the jaggery with 1 cup water.

Boil and dissolve the jaggery. Strain the syrup.

Put the syrup for boiling with the coconut and cardamom powder.

Once all the water gets evaporated, turn off flame and do not change this vessel. Let it cook further in the latent heat.

Wet your palms and take a small ball of the cooked rice batter.

Spread thinly on the hand.

Make a small ball of the coconut and place inside the thin rice round.

Bring the sides together and form a ball. Make a small triangle on top.

Continue to do this till either the rice mixture or coconut mixture gets over.

Now steam for 5 minutes. Cool and serve.

P.S- An old wives tale - If you are expecting and you make this modakam ; depending on which gets over the gender of the baby can be known! If the coconut mixture is leftover , you will get a girl and if the rice mixture is left , you will get a boy.